Update! thank you for all the reviews and support!
"What are you doing here?" Mitsugu and Leiko asked each other in unison; it was early Saturday morning, the sun had just risen and was casting a pale light over the town. The two girls stood outside the door of the Animal Shelter, both glaring at each other, Red orbs meeting blue.
"Wait, don't tell me? You're actually here to help the animals even though we don't have detention?" Leiko said with a taunting tone. "Careful, Mitsugu, someone might make the mistake of actually thinking you have a soul. What happened to 'they should all be euthanised?"
"You're clearly doing the same thing." Mitsugu said, rolling her eyes, before adding in a mocking voice. "I misjudged you, Leiko, you act so nasty but deep down your just a sweet vulnerable girl who loves to help sick animals. Aww."
"Don't make me sick." Leiko said, crossing her arms. "I just happened to be passing by and thought I'd check to see if they'd condemned the building yet. I don't care."
"Leiko! Mitsugu! You came to help the animals too!" Echo cheered, running up to both of them. Yua was following behind him, looking a little more reserved. "Yua and I are doing the same! Come on! Let's help Ran with the feeding."
Ignoring the girl's protests, Yua grabbed both of their hands and half-dragged them into the building.
"This is going to be fun!"
"Good morning boys and girls!" Korosensei said cheerily, but all the class could do was stare at him in shock. Granted, being a yellow octopus monster mean Korosensei always looked somewhat strange, but this lesson he looked even stranger than normal; His head was swollen to three times it's normal size. It looked like a great balloon ready to pop.
"Um, with all due respect sir, what's wrong with your head?" Minatozaki asked, raising an eyebrow. Korosensei grinned back.
"Ah this-?" He said, pointing to his swelled-up balloon head. "It was raining this morning and I soaked up water from the humidity in the air."
"Just what exactly is he made of? He's like a sponge." Hishiro murmured as she scribbled down some notes in her book. Ryu let out some awkward laughter- of course nothing was ever normal here.
"Now then, let's dive into the work we started last week; I want you to continue writing your short stories." Korosensei said, referring to the assignment they had begun last Friday. There was the sound of murmuring and pencil scratching against paper as the class pulled out their workbooks. Back on the main campus, they hardly ever did creative writing, but most of the students in E class found they actually rather enjoyed it.
"Sensei I'm going to write a story about killing you!" Chisato said happily, a few of the others giggled.
"That was my idea too." Kuroe said quietly, looking down at his paper.
"I have a feeling that's going to be a pretty popular story-line." Shion commented with a half smile.
"Hmm, I might write a story a story about an octopus teacher who gets caught in a net and turned into Calamari." Mori said, joining in. The others laughed.
"You can write about something other than my doom, you know!" Korosensei fumed, turning a bright shade of red, making the kids laugh even harder. Ryu smiled slightly. Almost everyone seemed to actually be getting into the task; Hishiro was silently writing as usual, her pen seeming to move almost impossibly quick. Leiko and Mitsugu were taking this as another opportunity to take jabs at each other (their hatred for one another seemed to have simmered down but they still couldn't resist bickering).
"I'm going to write a tragedy about a girl who only dates guys for money, who ends up becoming victim to a serial killer." Mitsugu said with an innocent smile.
"How quaint." Leiko retorted. "My story will be about a girl who thought it was cool to threaten people with knives. She ends up in an asylum and gets a lobotomy."
"Whoa those stories sound creepy!" Echo said, leaning forward to join in their conversation, a smile on his face. "I was just going to write about a talking fish that becomes friends with a sailor- what about you, Yua?"
He turned to his blue haired friend. Yua looked away and narrowed his eyes, looking vaguely bashful.
"I was just going to write a story about wolves, I guess." He said, evasively.
Kuroe was hunched over his paper, scribbling something down, red eyes narrowed. Since he'd arrived he hadn't made any progress in making friends, or even acquaintances. He'd mostly just stuck to himself and glared at people who talked about him. If he wasn't so damn scary Ryu might feel bad.
Mahiro was excitedly telling Unmei about what he was going to write. "It's going to be really badass. It's about this gangster with guns for hands who has to find the guys who killed his family." He explained. "It's going to have loads of gore and violence. And death- "
"That's fascinating." Unmei said, cutting him off, before adding with a grin. "But you know you're actually meant to write it down, not just talk about what will happen."
"Yeah I know!" Mahiro huffed. "But writing is the boring part.."
He wasn't the only one having problems; Tsukiko was sat frowning at her paper. It was hard to think of an original story to write just for herself, there were dark circles under her eyes. She was even more tired than usual. This was hard.
The usual gang of more sociable kids continued to tease Korosensei- Shion, Kamiya, Chisato, Yorua, Kazuma, Mori and now the Subaru twins. But there was one notable exception from the usual gang who wasn't joining in- Takahiro Akahito. He was normally in the middle of the group, laughing along with them right next to his best friend Mori and the others. But instead of being his usual self, Takahiro looked rather dour. He stared down at his paper with somber hazel eyes. What's wrong with him? Ryu couldn't help but wonder.
Later that morning it was yet another physical ed lesson with Karasuma. There had been several since last week, and the class had steadily been getting better (some more so than others). Ryu had been introduced along with the rest of the class to pellet guns the week earlier. Just like Karasuma sensei I had told him to, Ryu had been working on his marksmanship skills. He wanted to be useful to the rest of the class, but still, on days like this it was hard not to feel set apart; Ryu was practicing at the shooting range by himself while out of the corner of his eyes he could see the others focusing on knife work on the field with Karasuma-sensei.
Karasuma had decreed that they would pair up and practice sparring together. Sets of twos fought against each other on the field. Mori and Takahiro were about evenly matched with each other. Takahiro seemed brighter than he did that morning, but still not quite his usual self. Yoruha and Kamiya were another pair. Yoruha had a clear edge over her friend, seeing as how she'd been trained in swords since she was young. The two of them laughed as they swung knives at each other. Minatozaki and Hishiro were fighting too, although neither of them seemed particularly dedicated to it, both using moves so weak it seemed like it must be on purpose.
Chisato and Wendy on the other hand were taking sparring a lot more seriously, both of them trying their best to hit the other with the hilt of the knife. They were in a deadlock, neither able to get through the other's defences. Subaru and Ikuya even paused in the middle of their own spar to watch them.
"So you've been taking the training pretty seriously, huh sis." Subaru commented, but Wendy didn't answer, she was too engrossed in her own fight to take her eyes of her opponent.
"Mahiro! Karasuma-sensei said we're only meant to make contact with our knives!" Kazuma complained as Mahiro had kicked him to the floor for the third time.
"Sorry." Mahiro said not looking sorry at all, offering him a hand. Having three older brothers meant that fighting dirty came naturally to him.
Since nobody else wanted to even approach the guy, Satoshi was stuck sparring with Kuroe. Both of them weren't fighting to their full potential, Kuroe because of the sunlight, Satoshi because he didn't fancy setting the boy off with his history of violence. He preferred his bones uncrushed. Although Satoshi was fairly confident in his fighting skills, he wasn't about to land himself in unnecessary danger.
Yua and Echo were another pair. They'd become surprisingly fast friends since Yua had rejoined the class.
"We're supposed to be sparring, not running away!" Mitsugu said, laughing as she ran after Leiko, brandishing her knife threateningly.
"Yeah! Sparring! We're not supposed to actually hurt each other!" Leiko shouted back. Mitsugu was a surprisingly adept fighter, Leiko was not. Mitsugu had used that to her advantage and paired up with the other girl and had managed to push her to the ground about ten times in three minutes, probably being a little more violent than necessary. Leiko had decided she'd had enough and now she was running away, weaving in and out of the other pairs.
"You won't get any better if you don't stay and fight!" Mitsugu taunted, laughing in a carefree way.
"I don't want to! You were aiming for my face on purpose! Get away, freak!" Leiko said. Ryu raised an eyebrow- Everything was always in shambles, he didn't know how they'd ever become an elite squad able to take on a super-being. They didn't even have enough discipline for sparring.
"It's only sparring! Just like Karasuma-sensei told us!" Mitsugu said, a devilish glint in her eyes as she managed to trip the other girl over. Leiko hit the floor rather unceremoniously, letting out a dramatic 'OWWW!'. Mitsugu giggled and raised her rubber knife, but before it could make impact with the Leiko, somebody else dived in and blocked the blow.
Chisato stood between Leiko and Mitsugu, her own rubber knife barred against Mitsugu's.
"Fighting an opponent that is so much weaker than you in kind of pathetic, don't you think?" Chisato said, a wide smile on her face as she took a fighting stance.
"Yeah but it's funny." Mitsugu countered, an interested look in her red eyes. It was no secret that Chisato didn't like Leiko, yet she'd jumped in to defend her- was it because of her skewed sense of justice? Or did she just want an excuse to get in a fight with Mitsugu (since it was we'll known that Chisato didn't particularly like her either). Tension crackled between the two girls, other people even paused in their own spars to watch the outcome. Leiko looked at Chisato surprised as she picked herself up off the floor and brushed herself off.
The two were still for a moment, and then they went for each other. Both of them were good; Mitsugu a little faster, Chisato a little stronger. They weren't holding back, either; Mitsugu managed to kick Chisato hard in the chest, then Chisato contoured by punching her in the face. Ikuya watched intently, his knuckles white from clenching his fists. "Be careful, Natsumi." He murmured. But before the two girls could injure themselves further, Karasuma quickly intervened, grabbing the two by the collars and pulling them apart.
"Sparring is not an excuse to hurt the other person as much as you can." Karasuma told them, staring down at the two girls sternly. "I'd rather not have to deal with the paper-work that comes with broken bones."
Both of them just smiled at him.
"Sorry sir, guess I got carried away." Chisato said.
"I was just having fun, sir." Mitsugu added. Karasuma let out an exasperated sigh. These kids were hard work!
"Alright class- let's continue. No unnecessary violence this time!" Karasuma commanded. The class members turned back to their partners and begun fighting again. Chisato walked back over to Wendy.
"That was intense." Wendy laughed.
Ryu watched, a wistful look in his eyes, when he suddenly felt someone tap him from behind. He turned around quickly to see a tiny pink haired girl with golden eyes looking up at him; Shion.
"Hey Ryu, you looked bored so I thought I'd come say hi." She said, smiling. "My partners on a break- "
She indicated over to Unmei who was lounging in the shade of a tree. Karasuma would be so pleased.
"Um, thanks." Ryu said a little shyly. He didn't know Shion too well, since she'd joined the school late, but she always seemed sweet and easy to get along with. She'd made friends pretty quickly.
"So, not to intrude or anything, but why can't you join in the knife work?" Shion started to say, then noticed Ryu's uncomfortable expression and quickly added. "Ah! You don't have to answer that! I shouldn't of pried."
"Oh, no it's okay." Ryu assured her. But he did find it awkward talking about his illness. The only one who knew about it was Leiko, strangely enough (well, he wouldn't be surprised if Mitsugu knew too, she seemed to have a thing about digging around her classmates personal life). "I'm just physically weak so I have to avoid strenuous activities."
"Have to or want to?" Shion said, placing a hand to her chin in thought. Ryu looked at her confused, she continued. "Because you manage to walk up the hill to class every day just fine- and didn't you even carry Leiko up once?"
Ryu frowned at the memory. "Well yeah." He admitted, already knowing what Shion was getting at.
"If your physically fit enough to do all that stuff, surely you can manage some knife-work." Shion said, smiling, before covering her mouth quickly. "Sorry! I'm not a doctor so I probably shouldn't of said that!"
"No- no- it's okay. You have a point." Ryu reassured her. Loath as he was to admit it, Ryu knew there was some truth in her words. He did use his illness as an excuse to limit himself more than he needed to. Why? He wasn't sure exactly. He didn't want to get changed in front of other people, that was part of it. And he was always scared of making a fool of himself in front of others.
"Anyway, I think Unmei has been woken up from her nap!" Shion said, indicating to across the field were Karasuma was telling Unmei to get up. Shion turned and waved at Ryu. "I better go!"
Ryu watched her leave, a strange feeling churning in his chest. She had made it clear to him; He could join in with the others if he wanted to, it was his choice to make. But for some unknown reason part of him still felt uneasy about the thought of joining in.
Straight after Phys Ed was lunch. People sat in their usual groups.
Kuroe had gone outside to sit on the roof like he usually did, using umbrella to shield himself from the sun as always (Kuroe's constant aversion to the sun just strengthened Mahiro's conviction that he was a Vampire. Mahiro had even snuck garlic into Kuroe's desk to see if it had any effect, other than making the desk stink, it did not).
There were a few members of the class who preferred to stick to themselves like that; Hishiro was, as usual, sat by herself at lunch writing in a notebook. Sakiko Yume was quietly reading. Ryu sat with Mori, Chisato and the others. He noticed yet again that Takahiro didn't seem like his usual self. The boy was uncharacteristically quiet, hardly eating a bite of his lunch (even though it looked delicious, his family did run a restaurant after all). Mori kept shooting his friend concerned looks, but Takahiro didn't respond to them.
After lunch was everyone's least favourite part of the week; Assembly. School assemblies were the only time E class was aloud to set foot on the main campus, and it was an opportunity for the kids from the main school to look down on them.
Of course, with this years particular E class having a record number of students cast down for delinquency and violence the main school was pretty wary of them, and they weren't as insulting in front of E class as they had been years previous. They feared retribution, and so, E class were treated like a pack of viscous animals that could go feral at any walk down to the main campus was exhausting in itself; It was the height of afternoon, the sun was blazing, the air was hot and stuffy. As if that wasn't bad enough in itself, the walk was steep, and full of obstacles like roaring rivers, snakes, and unstable ground. When E class finally made it to the main campus, it was a miracle they were all in one piece.
"Is everyone here?" Mori asked, looking over the group and counting.
"Hitoshi decided he didn't want to walk down so he's bunking." Tsukiko offered up. Mori nodded.
"Sounds like him." He said. "Anyway, let's go inside before they add 'being late' to the list of reasons the main school they have to insult us.
The main hall was perfectly air-conditioned, large and modern-looking. Everything the E class building was not. As soon as E class walked in, they felt the eyes of the rest of the school boring into them. Hateful looks, disdainful looks, even fearful looks.
In here, the E class were pariahs. Many members of the class didn't even look bothered by the looks. The likes of Chisato and Fukuya just talked amongst themselves as if they weren't being glared at by a hundred pairs of eyes. Mitsugu was smiling at people, while Kuroe and Mahiro were the type to glare straight back (although one was more intimidating than the other..)
Ryu however found the atmosphere beyond uncomfortable and oppressive. The force of the hatred exuding from the main school almost felt like a physical weight pulling down on his shoulders. He couldn't help but physically cringe. Satoshi tapped him on the shoulder. "Stand up straight. If you look like a victim they're more likely to treat you like one." He told Ryu, raising an eyebrow. "Don't let those snobs think that they're better than you."
"Right." Ryu said, standing up a little straighter.
The class walked into the lines they were meant to stand in for assembly, and the rest of the school did the same. Asano Gakushuu walked passed the E class students, absorbed in reading some document, as usual, a hoard of followers and admirers followed after him.
"Yo- Gakushuu!" Subaru said, calling out to him. The twins and Asano had been family friends for a while, and known each other for years. Although they had never been super close (because Asano didn't let people get close to him) they had at least an amiable relationship.
Gakushuu turned and looked at Subaru and Wendy, an icy closed-off look in his eyes. He gave one of his smiles that always managed to look both patronising and distant. "Sorry, Aiko-San. I don't have time for chitchat the assembly is about to start."
With a curt nod, he quickly turned away. His followers looked scandalised. And murmurs resonated around the room.
'I can't believe E class trash tried to talk to Asano-Kun! And so inoformally'
'They're lucky he's so polite and considerate! I wouldn't of been so nice!'
"I guess you've fallen out of favour with the Antichrist then, huh." Satoshi said to Subaru, mock sympathy in his voice.
"President Asano is all about reputation. Of course he wouldn't be seen associating with us heathens." Mitisugu added with a snicker. "What did you think was going to happen?"
Subaru shrugged.
"Alright guys, lay off." Wendy chided, just as one of the teachers got on stage and the students fell into silence.
When the assembly finally finished, and the students spilled out of the door, a somber mood had descended onto E class. An hours of subtle jabs and foul looks would erode anyone's spirits, and E class was noticeably more dour than when they had first arrived at the main campus.
"I don't know what your all so moody about." Sakiko Yume said, emotionlessly, brushing her purple hair out of her eyes. "They're just the same as always."
"You're right." Mori said, his face splitting into a smile as he and the others walked out the main gates. "We shouldn't let other people tear us down."
"I don't care what a bunch of boring nerds think of us anyway!" Mahiro declared. A few of the other class members made noises of agreement, but somebody spoke over the crowd.
"Except they're right though, aren't they?" Takahiro said, glaring at the floor with a pained expression, one that looked unfamiliar. "The stuff they say about us is all true! We are losers!"
Everyone looked at him shocked- This was the type of deprecating thing Leiko would say, but somehow having the usually cheery Takahiro speak those words made them cut even deeper. Even Mori, his best friend, was lost for words.
"Half the class are so violent they'd be in prison if they were adults- Echo has assaulted people, Mitsugu threatens people with knives, and Kuroe- you put people in the damn hospital!" Takahiro said, looking close to breaking as he spoke. "- And then there's the rest of us, who got in this mess because we're too stupid, too lazy, and not good enough!"
Even though Takahiro was addressing the whole class, it was clear the insults were mostly just aimed at himself. There was a moment of shocked silence where nobody in the class knew what to say. Mori broke the silence, attempting to go over to his friend.
"Takahiro, what's wrong- " He started to say, but before he had a chance to continue, Takahiro turned and ran off.
"Wait!" Mori cried, running after him. The rest of the class stood there, speechless. It was Kazuma who broke the silence.
"I hope they're okay? Maybe I should text them." He said, worriedly.
"That's not like Takahiro at all, something must be wrong." Kamiya said, Shion nodded in agreement. But all the class could do was wait and find out what would happen.
Takahiro ran out of breath as he made it to the local park. Luckily it was empty. The blond haired boy slumped against a tree and slid down; This was such a mess. His frustration from earlier melted into guilt, he couldn't believe he'd been so rude to his classmates. He just hoped they'd excepted his apology.
"Skipping is something I've come to expect from some of your fellow classmates, but seeing you do it is certainly a surprise, Takahiro- " a familiar voice said. Takahiro whipped around to see Korosensei half hidden behind the tree, his beady black eyes peaking out.
"Sensei! What are you doing here? What if someone sees you?" Takahiro exclaimed, hazel eyes widening. Korosensei chuckled.
"Whenever there's a student in crisis I'm always there." He said with a kind tone. "You don't seem like your usual self, Takahiro, why is that?"
Takahiro sighed. Well, there's no point in lying about it.
"You know my family owns and runs and Italian restaurant, right?" Takahiro said, looking at his hands as he spoke. Korosensei nodded.
"Indeed I do- their food is rather delicious!" The teacher said. Takahiro decided not to ask how he knew that.
"Well, I'm the one who's meant to inherit the family business, but with my grades so low they're worried I won't be able to handle it." Takahiro explained. He sighed sounding defeated. "I overheard them talking about how I failed nearly all my exams last year. It made me realise what a loser I am... I'm not even adept enough to take over my family's business! I'm a failure!"
Takahiro's voice broke and he wiped his eyes. "I just- wish I could make my parents proud of me."
There was a moment of silence, when suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a blur of yellow and sudden movement.
Korosensei had took the rubber green knife out of Takahiro's pocket, and held it using a handkerchief to act as a buffer between it and his skin.
Takahiro looked confused, but the next thing he knew, Korosensei had threw the knife at him. Quick as he could, Takahiro dived out the way, getting to his feet. The knife narrowly missed his head.
"Sir, what the hell! Why did you throw that at me? Don't you have an agreement not to hurt us?" Takahiro shouted. A rubber knife wasn't a very dangerous weapon, but still. Korosensei chuckled again.
"I knew you'd dodge it." Korosensei said, looking smug. "Look how much your reflexes have improved. Just one week of Karasuma-Sensei's lessons and you've gotten so much stronger. Even if you aren't at the place you want to be right now, you can always learn and grow, so long as you work on it."
Takahiro looked at Korosensei, realising what his words meant. He smiled unconsciously.
"Thanks Sensei." He said, meaning it. Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
"Takahiro! Takahiro?" It was Mori. Takahiro casually walked over to him. Mori looked out of breath from running, his expression worried. Takahiro instantly felt a pang of guilt.
"Hey, man- " Takahiro started to say, but was surprised when Mori ran over and hugged him.
"Thank God I found you!" Mori said, then added. "What's wrong?"
Takahiro hugged him back. "I'll tell you later." He said, glancing behind. Korosensei was nowhere in sight. "I'm sorry I lashed out at you and everyone. I need to apologise to the rest of the class- where they mad?"
"No, they knew you wouldn't act like that unless there was something really bothering you." Mori explained, glad his friend sounded happier now. Takahiro felt a wave of relief. Mori grinned. "Anyway, before we go back to class and apologise, can we get ice cream? I am way too exhausted to make the walk up that mountain without some sort of refreshment."
"Sure thing!" Takahiro said, feeling lighter than he had in days, he began walking over to the ice cream truck "My treat!"
Korosensei watched, hidden in trees as the two best friends laughed together. Well, perhaps just this once he'd let them off for skipping class.
Is it just me or are the guys in this story a lot friendlier with eachother than the girls are? Yua and Echo are being bffs Takahiro and Mori are buying icecream together, while Leiko, Chisato and Mitsugu are getting into physical fights (call it reverse gender roles, males are usually the more violent ones, haha).
Some of the dynamics in the class have shifted. Well, Leiko and Mitsugu's hatred of eachother has died down, but they still take every opportunity to mock the other. Echo and Yua are sort of a team, and Kuroe's appearence has shook some things up, while Wendy and Subaru have fitted right in with Chisato, Mori Takahiro, Kazuma, Kamiya, and Shion ect.
I hoped you liked it. Sorry if Takahiro seems OOC, but I wanted to write one of the friendlier, more laid back characters being effected by pressure, because I think it has more impact.
Sorry if this chapter was super sappy with Leiko and Mitsugu actually choosing to help at an animal center, Shion's whole speech to Ryu, and Takahiro's little emotional arc. But I like emotional stuff.
Review for more! Also feel free to send me more info/ideas about your character. I can't always promise to put in everything, or have everything you want happen to your character, but it's still interesting to hear and gives me ideas.
Other than your own character, is there any character you'd like to see more of/learn more about?
Reply to guest reviews:
Echo Shiona: 1. I think this chapter turned out more sappy than hilarious, but I hoped you liked it anyway!
2. The drawing is really good isn't it? :D, my wattpad account is Harmony Constinstine, the profile pic is a blue fairy. I've never really used it, but if you follow me I'll follow back (You might be my first follower, because I really dont use it!)
Dr Z: Good idea (but compiling all that information would take a while, and probably a long time to read through, so i probably wont do it!)
Just Another Kid:
1. Thanks for your submission. I've been adding new characters nearly every chapter, so I may wait a few chapters before I introduce yours just to add some stability. Thank you for taking the time to review every chapter, its nice to see someone take such an interest in my writing!
